The Very Positive Performance By The United States Should Not Be Lost In Their Disappointing Tie With Portugal

It is the 94th minute and there are just 40 seconds left in the match from the steamy Arena da Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil between the United States and Cristiano Ronaldo and 10 other guys (Joao Moutinho is a very good player so maybe Ronaldo, Moutinho, and 9 other guys). Michael Bradley takes the ball down from the air on the top of his right foot and is 60 or 70 yards away from the United States goal where Tim Howard is patrolling in the back with the always disciplined Kyle Beckerman roaming in front of the defense, three fullback on the field with DeMarcus Beasley, Fabian Johnson, and DeAndre Yedlin, and three half backs in the game with Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron, and recent substitute Omar Gonzalez. Portugal has Nani on one wing, who will likely do a few step overs and then lose the ball, Eder at the center forward position, who is another largely ineffective striker in the Portuguese revolving door of front-men with Hugo Almeida and Helder Postiga, and Cristiano Ronaldo on the other wing, who has had a poor game for 94 minutes against the United States defense. By all considerations, the most reliable and steady player on the United States over the past four years has the ball at his feet with a fleet of defenders as large as the Spanish Armada behind him and the clock dwindling down in the game and on Portugal's massively disheartening World Cup, which would officially eliminate the nation that came in 4th in 2006 and made the semis of the 2012 Euros in the group stage for the first time since 2002 and effectively send Ronaldo home after just two games where he could watch Neymar and Messi steal all the glory, something a primadonna like Ronaldo surely would not be able to stand.

The United States is 40 seconds away from winning two consecutive games at the World Cup for the first time since the inaugural tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930 when they beat Belgium and then Paraguay 3-0 behind four goals in two games from Bert Patenaude (scorer of the first hat trick in World Cup history against Paraguay), a time when the competition had just 13 teams, Herbert Hoover was President of America, the Empire State Building was not yet complete, air conditioning was not even invented, and prohibition was still in place.

The United States is 40 seconds away from advancing to the knockout stage in consecutive World Cups for the first time ever and becoming just the 4th team outside of Europe and South America, along with Mexico (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014), Ghana (2006 and 2010), and Nigeria (1994 and 1998), to do so (the US made it past the group stage in 1930 in Uruguay, 1994 in the US, 2002 in Japan/South Korea, and 2010 in South Africa, but never in consecutive tournaments with the team losing their only game in the 1934 cup in Italy to the host nation 7-1, going out without a point in 1998 in France with losses to Germany, Iran, and Yugoslavia, and not having a victory in 2006 in Germany that included a 3-0 loss to Czech Republic and a 2-1 defeat to Ghana).

The United States is 40 seconds away from getting just their second win over a European opponent in the last 16 World Cups after just one win, nine losses, and three ties over that span (the US lost to Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Austria in 1990, tied Switzerland but then lost to Romania in 1994, lost to Germany and Yugoslavia in 1998, beat Portugal but then lost to both Poland and Germany in 2002, lost to the Czech Republic and then tied Italy in 2006, and finally tied both England and Slovenia in 2010).

The United States is 40 seconds away from getting their biggest soccer victory since the Red, White, and Blue pulled off the "Miracle on Grass" by beating a stacked English side 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (I do understand, however, that others would argue that the biggest win by the US is when they beat Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 in a CONCACAF qualifier in 1989 behind Paul Caligiuri's "Shot Heard Round The World" to get the squad into the 1990 World Cup for the first time in 40 years, but it is just a matter of semantics).

The United States is 40 seconds away from becoming America's most beloved team since Abbott and Costello, since Ab and Mary, since the 1992 Dream Team.

The United States is just 40 seconds away, which is all the time you need to be able to determine that James Harden is just atrocious defensively (the fact that Harden got two votes for NBA all-defense is the most comical thing that has happened in the association since the Pacers traded Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee, and a lottery-protected first round pick for the aging Luis Scola with the Suns).

But as the San Antonio Spurs learned in game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, it can all crumble way to easily in the final 40 seconds. Michael Bradley takes a touch down on the top of his cleats to settle the ball and is facing the United States goal with four Portuguese defenders coming to surround him, one on each side, but all of them a fair distance away on his first touch. At this point, any soccer fan understands what Michael Bradley needs to do, which is first off to not loose the ball because that will spring a Portuguese counter attack in their desperation period in stoppage time, but also to try and bring the ball down in the corner to waste time and end the match. Bradley's first touch takes him too far backwards, so attempting to bring the ball into the corner is not a legitimate possibility because of the limited options he has around him and the Portuguese players coming on to him.

Nonetheless, after Bradley takes his rather poor first touch, he then looks around for a second, tries to take the ball with the outside of his right foot towards the Portugal goal, and is pushed off the ball by the bigger Eder, for despite his finishing problems, is a very strong player. Immediately after Bradley takes his first touch back towards his own goal, a clearance anywhere would have worked, whether it be towards the Portuguese defense or preferably even into the stands at this late point in the game (you might as well give the Brazilians a ball since the tournament is costing them billions and they are getting nothing back in return, which is FIFA in a nutshell, the most corrupt organization since the Federal Reserve Bank).

However, Bradley not only neglected the chance to just launch the ball anywhere down the field on his first touch, but in the 94th minute of a World Cup match, he took way too long to do anything on the ball in the middle of the field and gave it away at a crucial point in the game. In the game against Ghana less than a week earlier, Bradley made a similar mistake by trying to play a ball forward that eventually went right to the Black Stars goalie Adam Kwarasey instead of just playing the ball into the corner and running the time out in the game as it was reaching its final few seconds, a mistake that would not hurt the US in their 2-1 win against Ghana, but would be a costly blunder in their match against Portugal.

After Bradley loses possession because of the strong challenge by Eder to push him of the ball, Beckerman is caught a little too high up the pitch and cannot prevent the ball from quickly getting back up the field towards the US net. Nani takes two touches and then spreads the ball out to the right, as surprising as that sounds, you did read it correctly because in the dying moments Nani actually decided to not do any moves or scissors but actually just play it quickly out wide after just two touches, which is a rare sight in itself and is almost as surprising as the goal to come by "A Seleccao." At that moment, every fan of the United States gave out a collective groan because Cristiano Ronaldo was isolated in a one on one situation with a lot of room in front of him against DeMarcus Beasley. For the entire game, the United States had done an incredible job of not giving Ronaldo time, sending multiple bodies towards him when he had the ball, and making sure he did not have a lot of space in behind to run in, but somehow in the 94th minute of the game, Ronaldo ended up in a one on one with Beasley (this reminded me of how Iran worked so hard for an entire game to stop Messi by crowding his space and then in the 93rd minute with the score tied at 0, they let him get on to his deadly left foot and score an incredible goal for the Argentinian victory).

The speedy Ronaldo, 7-time UEFA Team of the Year member, 2-time Ballon d'Or winner, and a player that has 252 total goals in 246 games with Real Madrid in all competitions, up against Beasley, a player so old that he was apart of the 2002 US World Cup squad, so obviously Beasley has to give Cristiano some space in fear of getting beat down the line or even more dangerously into the middle. This allows Ronaldo to pick out the cross he likes because Beasley does not have any cover to try and make a challenge since he is on an island with Ronaldo with no other help from his US teammates, which I still don't understand how that actually happened. Ronaldo puts in a picture perfect cross that displays his true world class brilliance into a spot in the box that makes sure that if a Portuguese player gets a head on it, the ball is going into the goal, but also a position where Tim Howard cannot come out of the net to punch it away. When Ronaldo picks up the ball, there is only one player in the vicinity of the box, who is Silvestre Varela.

Varela began his run on the midfield line when Nani picked up the ball and was just a little bit in front of Fabian Johnson. It is the 94th minute of the game, so why Johnson is not running as hard as he can to get back in behind Varela is still beyond me. Not only does Johnson continue to only jog backwards and let Varela get ahead of him for an impending cross, who isn't even sprinting yet, but he doesn't communicate at all to Geoff Cameron about the Portuguese player coming on behind him. Ronaldo puts in his incredible cross, Cameron doesn't see Varela behind him at all, which is mainly Johnson's fault for not saying anything but also on Cameron for not looking around the box for any incoming players, and the substitute heads home, past Tim Howard for a shocking 2-2 draw between the national sides.

Portugal's Second Goal Against The US

There have been very few games more gut punching than that US-Portugal fixture in the second slate of contests in group G from the middle of the Amazon in Brazil (I'm looking at that, of course, from a United States perspective although the result still does not really help the Portuguese in the grand scheme of things because they will need their biggest miracle since "The Miracle of the Sun" to make it out of the group stage for their third World Cup in a row and try to have their best finish in the competition with an all-time great player like Ronaldo since they got 9 goals in 6 games from Eusebio and also had Jose Augusto, Jose Torres, Mario Coluna, and Vicente in their team and finished 3rd in the 1966 cup in England). 

In 1965, the Philadelphia 76ers were on the precipice of winning the Eastern Conference Finals after facing elimination at home in game 6 against the Boston Celtics, and were set to return to their first NBA Finals since they were the Syracuse Nationals and beat the Fort Wayne Pistons in 7 games all the way back in 1955 behind the play of Dolph Schayes and Paul Seymour. A team led by Wilt Chamberlain and Hal Greer was on the verge of helping the 76ers finally beat the Celtics and Bill Russell, who had knocked the team from the playoffs in the Division Finals in 1957, 1959, and then again in 1961. Down by one point with 5 seconds left in game 7 and with a terrific chance of getting to the NBA Finals to play the much weaker Los Angeles Lakers, Greer's inbound pass from under the Celtics basket was stolen by John Havlicek and tipped to Sam Jones for the Celtics victory in one of the most agonizing losses you will ever see a team suffer in any game, let alone to in an Eastern Conference Finals win or go home battle of such grave magnitude. 

"Havlicek Stole The Ball"

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills have not been in the playoffs for 14 straight seasons, which is the longest active post-season drought in the NFL, and have only finished over .500 once in that span (2004), which is entirely because they are still heartbroken over the shocking music city miracle in the AFC Wild Card Game in 2000 against the Tennessee Titans, who would go on to make their only Super Bowl appearance to date before losing to the Rams and Kurt Warner 23-16 in Atlanta. The Bills were up 16-15 on the Titans with 16 seconds left before Frank Wycheck threw a much disputed lateral (it was a lateral to be fair) across the field to Kevin Dyson, who would take the ball all the way from his own 25-yard line into the Bills end zone for the most jaw dropping touchdown in NFL history, which is the most tragic thing that has happened to Buffalo they learned Donald Trump was attempting to buy the team and precisely run it into the ground. 

"The Music City Miracle"

Among many other heart-breakers in sports, the Phillies were just a half-inning away from getting a chance to play in a game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays from Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia for the chance to win their 2nd World Series in franchise history to go along with the one that they won in 1980 by beating the Royals in 6 games behind the pitching of NL Cy Young winner Steve Carlton and the hitting of NL MVP winner Mike Schmidt (19 times in MLB history a pair of teammates have won the Cy Young and MVP in the same season including in 1957 when Hank Aaron and Warren Spahn did so with the Braves, in 1961 when Roger Maris and Whitey Ford accomplished the feat with the Yankees, in 1967 when Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Lonborg did so with the Red Sox, in 1990 when Rickey Henderson and Bob Welch did it with the A's out in Oakland, and most recently in 2013 when Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer did so with the Tigers). Philadelphia was up by a run with closer Mitch Williams on the mound and after walking Rickey Henderson and eventually letting up a single to Paul Molitor, Joe Carter hit a walk-off three run home run off Williams to give the Blue Jays their second straight World Series (the Yankees won from 1936 to 1939, 1950 to 1953, 1961 to 1962, 1977 to 1978, and 1998-2000, the A's three-peated from 1972 to 1974, and the Reds went back-to-back in 1975 and 1976 as the three other ballclubs to win multiple championships in a row since 1930) and break the hearts of every sports fan in the City of Brotherly Love once again.

Joe Carter's Walk-Off Home Run

The feeling of complete disbelief that so many US fans and players felt following Varela's header goal on essentially the last touch of the game for Portugal is just as crushing as everybody involved with the 1964-1965 76ers, the 1999-2000 Bills, and the 1993 Phillies felt following their respective teams calamitous losses in such significant games to the Celtics, Titans, and Blue Jays. It was literally right there for the United States to qualify for the round of 16 after just two games and two wins over very formidable sides like Ghana and Portugal, which would have been an absolutely heroic effort for a team that was expected by so many to finish dead last in the group of death. No matter how you want to look at it, the last goal of the game was truly devastating because of all the errors that the US made on the final exchange that may come back to haunt them forever if they don't get a result against Germany. However, unlike most other heartbreaking contests, the USMNT still has a terrific chance to accomplish everything they could have wanted from the group stage of the World Cup. The 76ers had to wait a full year to get back to the Division Finals after their tragic game 7 loss to the Celtics, and when they did, they lost to Boston once again anyway, this time in 5 games because of John Havlicek averaging 25.4 points per game in the series including scoring 32 in the clinching game 5. The Bills have still not been able to recover from the music city miracle, maybe more so because of their horrendous QB play from Kelly Holcomb, J.P. Losman, Trent Edwards, and Ryan Fitzpatrick since 2000, but the game definitely plays a part in the curse over the Bills, and the Phillies had to wait a full season just to get back to a strike shortened MLB year and went without a playoff appearance all the way until 2007, where they were promptly swept by the Colorado Rockies in the NLDS 3-0. 

However, the United States have an outstanding chance to quickly rebound from their rather devastating tie against Portugal and do something that the 76ers, Bills, and Phillies never had a chance to do, which is come out the very next game and put that heartbreak immediately to rest. While the other teams in this discussion were right out of the post-season after their crushing blows, the US have as good of a chance as ever to make it into the knockout stage. With a victory over Germany from the Arena Pernamuco in Recife, the United States would top group G on 7 points and would almost certainly get to play either Algeria (they will be happy to not see Landon Donovan back on the field if that matchup happens) or the Fabio Capello led Russians (Capello is getting paid nearly 12 million dollars a year to coach Russia, more than double what any other coach is making, so he better make it to the knockout stage for the first time since Russia were still the Soviet Union and did so in the 1986 cup in Mexico), which gives the United States a terrific chance to make their 2nd quarterfinals appearance since 2002. A tie against Germany would still ensure the United States a place in the final 16 with a likely game against Belgium, a very talented side that has not looked great as of yet with their late 2-1 win against Algeria and a lackluster 1-0 victory over Russia at the Maracana in Rio (the two were supposed to play a close door friendly in Sao Paulo before their opening matches but Belgium cancelled because of traffic, you don't here that everyday, so the contest may still go on but this time from the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador). The United States could even lose to the Germans and still make the round of 16 with a Portugal-Ghana tie while a Portugal or Ghana win might still not be enough for those sides to advance, especially for Portugal, who need to make up a huge goal differential to come in second. 

Whether it be Havlicek stealing the ball, the music city miracle, Joe Carter's walk-off home run, or some other memorable heartbreaking moment like Bill Buckner's error in game 6 of the 1986 World Series for the Red Sox, Isiah Thomas's inbounds pass to Bill Laimbeer that was stolen by Larry Bird in game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, or Kentucky losing to Duke on Christian Laettner's buzzer beater in the 1992 Elite Eight, every team in the world faces a few agonizing defeats over the years. 

However, for as disappointing as it was to give up that last goal, and it was truly an unacceptable goal to allow in the final seconds of the game, people have to remember that the US did not actually lose that match against Portugal. As much as it feels like America did in fact lose that game, an actual defeat by the Stars and Stripes would have been catastrophic after an opening game win against Ghana behind the heading prowess of John Brooks and the Yanks did get a positive result from each of their first two games against two of the top sides in the World Cup. In fact, the United States is one of just five teams along with Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and the Netherlands to avoid a loss in both of their first two games in each of the last two World Cups, which doesn't make up for their very disastrous end to the game against Portugal but does show the progress of the national team and, more importantly, that if they continue to play as they have in their first two games, they should be moving on to the final 16 teams in the World Cup. The unsatisfactory ending of the US game against Portugal, and trust me I'm still as upset as everybody else about the play of the team in the final minute, should certainly not take away from the entirety of their performance against "A Seleccao," which was full of quality and positive signs for the rest of the tournament.

In their first game against Ghana from the Arena das Dunas in Natal, the United States played a ton of defense against the Black Stars and had very little of the ball. Ghana out passed the US 456 to 275, had at least 60 percent of the ball possession, and had 38 crosses into the US box as compared to the 8 that the Red, White, and Blue managed to get into the box of the Nsoroma Tuntum. Some of the ball dominance that Ghana had throughout the 90 minutes can be pointed to the fact that the US was playing with a lead from such an early stage in the game. 

As great as it was for Clint Dempsey to score in his 3rd different World Cup (he scored against Ghana in the 2006 group stage and versus England, thanks to Robert Green's gaffe, in the 2010 group stage as well) and net a goal 30 seconds into the match, the 5th fastest World Cup score of all-time (the only goals that were faster were when Hakan Sukur scored 11 seconds into a match for Turkey against co-hosts South Korea in the 3rd place game in 2002, when Vaclav Masek of Czecholsovakia scored 16 seconds into a group stage game against Mexico, when Ernst Lehner netted a goal for Germany against Austria 25 seconds in the 3rd place game in 1934, and finally in a 1982 group stage match when 27 seconds into the contest Bryan Robson of England scored against France), the goal put the US in defensive mode for way too long in the match. After any team scores a goal in a game, the natural reaction is to try and hold onto that lead and do everything you can to prevent a goal promptly coming back the other way by letting your guard down. Nonetheless, it is exceedingly difficult to play such a defensive style without any of the ball and be successful for the entirety of a match and the US were way to dependent on maintaining their lead rather attacking a shaky Ghanaian back four of Daniel Opare, who was benched against Germany, John Boye, who let Desmpey get behind him on the first goal, Jonathan Mensah, and Kwadwo Asamoah, who is absolutely tremendous going forward but not great when you make him defend.

Now, aside from the fact that the US were attempting to protect their one goal advantage for as long as they could and not pushing as many guys forward as they normally would, they were also very poor in keeping the ball and there is no way around that, even with the excuse that they were inclined to let Ghana have the ball and were intent on staying compact in the back. I know it seems like I am picking on Michael Bradley, but for as good of a player as he is in distribution, he was downright terrible against Ghana and it was the worst game I have seen from him play in a US shirt. His passing accuracy was just 65 percent in the opposing half and he was constantly giving the ball away and being careless in the midfield. 

Alejandro Bedoya played for 77 minutes and was virtually non-existent in the game and completed just 12 passes all match long despite being picked ahead of the creative Graham Zusi in an outside midfield role, who was deservedly apart of the MLS best XI in 2012 and 2013 and scored against Jamaica and Panama in World Cup qualifiers. Meanwhile, although Jozy Altidore received as much criticism as Billy King when he made the Gerald Wallace trade for scoring just 1 goal in 30 league games with Sunderland in the EPL and not scoring at all for the US in 2014 until the United States' final pre-World Cup friendly against Nigeria, he is such an important piece to the Yanks. With his 6-1 frame and his commanding presence up front, Jozy provides terrific hold up play for the USMNT when he is on the field in the lone striker role. Altidore's big body and physical nature up top allows the Stars and Strips to give him the ball so that they can get their opponents out of their third of the field because he is so good in his holdup play and allows the US an outlet whenever they need to keep the ball for a little bit and do not have enough bodies forward right away to mount an attack. When Jozy went out of the game in the 23rd minute due to a hamstring strain, it killed the United States because Aron Johansson is a much different player than Jozy and does not provide that same holdup play. Since Klinsmann did not change up the formation and kept Johansson up front on his own, the team was not able to have any sustained possession because they were unable to relieve the pressure from Ghana without that big body up front to track down some loose balls.

Despite all of the things that went wrong for the United States in their opening match to go along with their poor play in keeping possession of the ball, they were able to scratch and crawl their way to a 2-1 victory, which showed their true character and mettle, something every team in a World Cup needs to have in order to be successful because every game does not go according to the same blueprint and you have to adjust to each unique circumstance in the frenzy of the one-month tournament. The biggest concern for Jurgen Klinsmann going into the tournament was his defense, something he did not have to worry about at all when the West German team he played on in 1990 won the World Cup and conceded just 5 goals in 7 games in route to their last title on the world stage. With a back four of Beasley, Cameron, Besler, and Johnson that had very little experience playing with one another, especially since at one time not long ago it seemed as if Omar Gonzalez and even Clarence Goodson or Timothy Chandler could possibly be apart of that US quartet in defense, that doubt and worry over the defense was certainly warranted. In their friendly against Turkey (granted Chandler played rather than Beasley), the US back line looked very shaky to say the least and there was wide too much space in behind them to attack and if the Wolfs had a little more quality than just Borussia Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin (they really missed captain Arda Turan and Galatasaray striker Burak Yilmaz), they could have hit the US for a lot of goals because they had so many opportunities around the box. 

However, just a little more than two weeks after that very worrying display in the back, the US defense miraculously looked way more in touch with one another against Ghana and turned in a really solid performance in the match. After the match against Ghana, Klinsmann had to have gained an immense amount of trust in his defense for their spectacular play in keeping the Ghanaian offense down for so long and having an incredible 44 clearances away from their third of the field. While some of that can be attributed to the Black Stars lacking creativity going forward and just floating in too many crosses from all areas of the pitch, the US back line surprisingly looked to be as stout as any other team in the competition, which is what you need in a World Cup and was a great sign going forward, especially when the US were destined to turn in a better all-around performance in the future.

US-Ghana Highlights

After playing one of their poorest games from an offensive standpoint in a long time, many teams would have folded right away, but the US remained very strong throughout the game. As good as the Stars and Stripes defense was against Ghana in one of those games where the team needed to have a lot of resolve because they were nowhere near their best and as extraordinary as it was to see the entire side display unmatched toughness and spirit with their late goal after Andre Ayew of Marseille equalized in the 82nd minute for the Black Stars, the US knew that they would not be able to make it out of the group stage relying on extreme grit and fortitude alone because it is very hard to sustain success when the other team has such much of the ball in games. 

However, the United States rebounded in a very big way against quite a strong Portuguese side and showed in their performance against one of the top European teams the quality of their entire squad and their ability to be a very dangerous team going forward in attack. As everybody saw versus Ghana, the US is more than capable of grinding out victories and being organized defensively in the back when they need to be, but they demonstrated against Portugal that they have the capacity to play a much more fluid, attacking style of soccer when it is called upon, which was a very positive sign for everybody involved with the Stars and Stripes. Ever since Jurgen Klinsmann took over in 2011, the United States have had some very impressive performances under the German manager including their 1-0 victory over Italy at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa in 2012 for their first win over a World Cup title winning side since 2002, a 1-0 win over Mexico in 2012 at the Estadio Azteca, their first victory in the stadium after previously being 0-19-1 in Mexico City, and their 1-0 victory against Panama in the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final, for their first confederation championship since they beat Mexico in the final 2-1 back in 2007. However, despite the fact that the US gave up that late goal to the Portuguese (it stinks that we have to say despite at all in this sentence), their performance in tough conditions in Manaus was about the best we have seen from the team since Klinsmann took over, which is a very positive sign for the progession of the US in the World Cup, especially in their upcoming match against Germany and once Klinsmann understudy in Joachim Loew.

For the most part, the back four was solid for the United States once again against Portugal and while it didn't quite match their showing against Ghana, it was still a very respectable and fine effort by Beasley, Cameron, Besler, and Johnson in the US defense. Let's put aside the egregious error that Fabian Johnson made at the end of the game just for now because you can only blame a guy so many times unless it is Matt Millen because then you can just go at it all day long if you like (if I didn't say it already, damn you Fabian Johnson on that last sequence in the game). For as difficult as it was for Fabian Johnson to get forward from his right back position against Ghana because of the Black Stars left back Kwadwo Asamoah from Juventus constantly shooting up the field and the very dangerous Andre Ayew on that side of the pitch as well, it was just as easy for him to tear up the right side of the field against Portugal and make them pay for leaving him so much space. Don't get me wrong, Johnson is a capable defender, as he showed against Ghana, because he kept Asamoah and Ayew in check for large portions of the game when the African side had their attack centered around those two very dynamic players, but he has a much larger impact on the game when he is allowed to be a big part of the US going forward and when he is providing width in attacking areas. 

In the game against Portugal, Paulo Bento set up his team in a 4-3-3 with Nani and Ronaldo as the two wingers in the front three. While Ronaldo was lined up in the formation on the left side for Portugal, his role was more so as a roamer throughout the pitch rather than on Fabian Johnson's side in particular, leaving Johnson wide open at times along the right. Since Nani and Ronaldo did very little tracking back (presumably Ronaldo by design and Nani by his laziness), there was a ton of room for Fabian Johnson to operate from his right back position and on that whole side of the field with the front three of Portugal not getting behind the ball and foolishly expecting the midfield three of Raul Meireles, Miguel Veloso, and Joao Moutinho to cover all that space. Johnson, who is going to Borussia Monchengladbach in 2014 after being with 1899 Hoffenheim for a while in the Bundesliga, showed why I think he is the most dangerous player for the United States because he is so fast and can just fly down the flanks of the field unlike any other player on the field in most instances. Johnson was given a lot of room to run into because of all the unoccupied space left by Ronaldo and he was able to use his quickness to cause the Portuguese defense all sorts of trouble, which is what Klinsmann wants in his system with fullbacks shooting forward to get into the attack so that they can put in crosses and give the US numerical advantages in the final third. Johnson was a menace for newly implemented left back Andre Almeida all game long, specifically in the first half before the Portuguese finally made some adjustments, because Johnson was much to quick for him and the Benfica man was given very little cover from his teammates for any help in defensive areas. 

For example, in the 10th minute Ronaldo was not marking anyone and was squeezing up high so when Zusi got the ball, Almeida had to step to him, so Zusi played the ball one touch back to Jermaine Jones, who was then able to hit the space behind Almeida and give the ball to Johnson in a dangerous area of the field. Although Johnson's shot was eventually blocked by Bruno Alves, the US were able to get their best player on the field in a one on one situation on the ball in the box, which is all you could ever ask for as a coach. Johnson took a pass from Clint Dempsey in the 32nd minute and had a rocket of a left-foot shot from outside the box that was just a little wide of Beto's goal, but was an alarming moment for the Portuguese and was another occurrence where the biggest threat for the United States was coming from their speedy right back. In the 55th minute, Fabian Johnson had another stroke of brilliance that had me saying that attacking fullbacks like Ricardo Rodriguez, Jordi Alba, Marcelo, Dani Alves, Leighton Baines, David Alaba, and Seamus Coleman should move over, which may have been me just getting a pretty big man crush but felt pretty genuine because of just how good his attacking presence was against Portugal. Once again it was Jones and Zusi combining to set up the very dangerous Johnson for an opportunity that really should have leveled the game at one if Michael Bradley had finished off the play. Jones picked up the ball and slotted it to Zusi, who had peeled off Miguel Veloso and played a terrific through ball in behind Almedia and into the path of Fabian Johnson. Johnson used his extreme quickness to stay in front of Almedia and then when Beto came out to try and take the ball from Johnson's feet, he slid a pass with his right foot perfectly to the streaking Michael Bradley coming from behind, who really should have scored right in front of net with only a defender on the line to block it away. Johnson used his pace to torture the Portuguese back four all game long and his rare dribbling ability for a full back should continue to be utilized by the United States because he provides one of the best options for the team going forward.

Although I love to praise the work of Fabian Johnson because I just think his attacking abilities are just outstanding, Matt Besler and the wily veteran DeMarcus Beasley also did a very good job of containing Ronaldo, Nani, and Eder for most of the game, which is another really good sing for the United States. As everybody has come to expect from Matt Besler ever since his emergence with the US National Team in 2013, he was the most reliable player in the back for the United States against the Portuguese and their attack that scored 24 goals in 12 UEFA qualifying games to get into the World Cup including 8 of which came from Ronaldo. The 2012 MLS Defender of the Year is the steadiest player in the US back four and whenever he has the ball, every fan of the Stars and Stripes should have a sense of calmness because Besler makes very shrewd decisions and is a very good passer from the left side of central defense. After leaving the game against Ghana at halftime with a hamstring injury, he looked more than fine versus Portugal, as he led the team with 12 clearances, 5 pass interceptions, and a 93.6 passing accuracy from the back. Besler's very long legs because of his length enabled him to make a lot of tackles against Eder up front and his height allowed him to command most of the aerial challenges in the box, including an important header away from Ronaldo in the 34rd minute. The Sporting Kansas City defender will have to continue to be the rock in the back for the United States as he has been for so many games in the recent months because his smart distribution from the center of defense sets the tone for the entire team.

Meanwhile, although DeMarcus Beasley does not have the legs he once did to run by people so effortlessly, he is still able to read the play very well from his left back position. His anticipation of where the ball is going to be played and where each player is on the field allows him to cover for his teammates whenever they get beat and keeps him in the right spot of the pitch for defensive support and as an offensive outlet if need be on the left side. Clearly, Beasley could not close down Ronaldo on the final play because he is just not that quick anymore, and there are very few guys in the entire world at any age who are that fast, but his overall ability to see the game a step ahead always shows itself on the field. Beasley is not a guy who is going to win the US a game anymore because he just doesn't have that in him at his age, and the attack from the fullbacks will almost completely come from the speedy Fabian Johnson on the right, but Beasley never neglects his defensive responsibilities. He is never going to cost the US anything because he is as astute a player as anybody on the pitch when it comes to where to be, where to play the ball, and who to mark, which allowed the 32-year old Beasley to have a very sound game against an attack that featured Nani and Ronaldo, two of the fastest players in world football.

The only worrying sign for the United States coming out of their match against Portugal could possibly be the play of Geoff Cameron in central defense, but I'm absolutely positive that Cameron is going to be fine and I'm not just saying that because I'm feeling optimistic about this team's chances against Germany and in the rest of the tournament. The first goal of the game for Portugal five minutes into the match was a harrowing mistake by Cameron and there is just no way around that. The first time ball into the box from Veloso went right off the left shin of Cameron as he was trying to clear the ball out of the box and fell perfectly to Nani right in front of the net for the goal to put the US in an early 1-0 hole. There is not much you can say about the score because the mistake is a brutal one from Cameron and is just about as disastrous of a clearance as you will ever see in a match, especially from a guy the game before that played so well and had 15 clearances from the center back role, way more than anybody else on the US team. I've heard people say since the end of the game against Portugal on Sunday night that since Cameron played primarily as a right back for Stoke City in the Premier League because of the presence of Marc Wilson and Ryan Shawcross in center defense for "The Potters" that he had not dealt with enough crosses in that role and that he was unprepared to deal with all the balls that come flying into the box as a half back during a full match. However, Cameron was more than likely the man of the match for the United States against Ghana and dealt with crosses from Christian Atsu, Andre Ayew, Daniel Opare, and Kwadwo Asamoah exceptionally well for the entirety of the match to keep the US in that game. As much as this is a cliche, sometimes things happen on the field and I'm sure Cameron will never slice a cross like that again for the United States in the center back role or so I can hope. On the goal in the final seconds of the game, while I understand that Cameron does have to turn his hips a little bit and locate any incoming runners, I put that goal more so on Fabian Johnson for not communicating with him and letting the big 6-3 center defender, who is very good in the air and is a dominating aerial presence, know that there is a man behind him coming in for the cross. Cameron was nowhere near his best against Portugal, but he is a good enough player to fix the mistakes he made against "A Seleccao."

Nani's Goal On Geoff Cameron's Mistake To Put Portugal Up 1-0

I fully expect Geoff Cameron to recover from his poor performance against Portugal and play a very strong game versus the Germans with his very reliable center back partner Matt Besler while DeMarcus Beasley will continue to read the game to perfection and allow Fabian Johnson to get forward from his right fullback role. It also helps the United States when you have a goalkeeper in net that can make some incredible saves like Tim Howard, who I would take over every other goalie in this year's competition except for Manuel Neuer of Germany, Thibaut Courtois of Belgium, Hugo Lloris of France, and the Guillermo Ochoa of Mexico against Brazil that was literally a brick wall. Despite Howard badly misplaying a Nani shot from distance and getting some major help from the post, his recovery to stay on his feet as he was losing balance and tip Eder's rebound attempt over the bar was world class and prevented Portugal from going into halftime with a 2-0 lead with all the momentum in the world, which is a kind of save that a team needs their top five goalkeeper to make once in a while to keep them in the game as Tim Howard did for the United States. Germany scored 36 goals in 10 qualifying games in UEFA against Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Kazakhstan, and the Faroe Islands, by far the most of any team in the confederation, and with attacking options on the field to begin the game of Mesut Ozil, Thomas Mueller, and Mario Gotze and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Andre Schurrle, Lukas Podolski, and Miroslav Klose coming off the bench, they are very dangerous. However, the US defense with Timmy Howard behind them has looked very strong, except for one bad Geoff Cameron mistake, and should not fear the German attack once so ever, especially after a solid performance against Ghana and then thwarting the dynamic attack of Portugal led by Ronaldo for most of the game.

Another positive from the game against Portugal for the United States was that they looked much more calm and composed in the midfield against the Portuguese than they did against the Ghanaians when they were utterly useless in the middle of the park versus Sulley Muntari, Mohammed Rabiu, and later on Kevin-Prince Boateng when he came on for Jordan Ayew and played down the center of the pitch for the Black Stars. Despite all he accomplished with the United States as their head coach from 2006 to 2011 including winning the Gold Cup in 2007 and taking the team to the round of 16 in the 2010 World Cup, Bob Bradley was often criticized for playing a very direct style of play and rallying on route one rather than the retention of the ball for success. Under Bradley, the US had so many games against less talented opponents where they either barely squeaked out a victory or lost the contest because they were not able to assert themselves on their inferior opposition since they did not have enough of the ball to do so. The team sat back way too much under Bradley and really never took the game to their opponents like they should have on so many occasions. When Jurgen Klinsmann was hired by the US in 2011 to be their national team coach, he brought a new fluidity to the side and stressed the importance of keeping the ball much more than Bradley ever did. Ever since Klinsmann took over, he has been much more prone to allow the US to have a real attacking nature in games rather than the more defensively disciplined style that Bradley employed. In their game against Ghana, we saw that the US can adapt and can still play that very organized style that they so often did under Bradley with maintaining their shape, but the great quality they showed going forward against Portugal and the freedom they had to do so, which you need in order to make a run in the World Cup, was a very obvious difference between the Bradley and Klinsmann era.

The United States midfield was just so much better as a whole against Portugal than in their display less than a week earlier against the Ghanaians in Natal, which is a very positive sign because so often matches are won and lost in the World Cup depending on which country controls that middle third of the field and is able to dictate the flow of traffic for the entirety of the game. In their match against Ghana, the United States midfield was not nearly poised enough on the ball and they had so many careless giveaways throughout the game, especially from Michael Bradley. Since they lacked the sense of calmness that you so often need in tight areas of the midfield, the US constantly tried to play balls over the top of the Black Stars defense, which led to the team giving the ball right back to Ghana after they had just had a long spill of possession. Since the US midfield of Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Michael Bradley, and Alejandro Bedoya had such major problems in keeping the ball, 13.1 percent of the team's passes eventually wound up going long and not to feet, which is way too high of a number when attempting to enjoy some of the ball. This led to the United States having a very poor 58.6 passing accuracy in Ghana's half of the field, displaying the team's lack of composure in the midfield to do something productive with the ball.

But against Portugal, the US showed a real sense of confidence and equanimity in their midfield play and seemed to be much more comfortable in possession and in their combination play in the middle of the pitch, especially between Jones and Zusi. This allowed the United States to have continued pressure on the Portuguese back four, much more so than against Ghana, when they did not have enough of the ball to do so. The US fired off 15 shots against Portugal as compared to the 8 that they were able to muster against Ghana because of their sense of coolness on the ball to find openings in behind the Portuguese back four and also in front of them with players checking to the ball from high areas on the field. This was because the percentage of passes that went long from the US was only at 8.8 percent, high enough where the defense can't just squeeze everybody forward but still low enough where everything isn't a ball over the top, which enabled the US to have a much higher passing accuracy in the opposing half of 75.5 percent and kept them on the ball for scoring chances in the Portuguese third.

This is something I wrote before the World Cup about the United States midfield, specifically Jermaine Jones and Kyle Beckerman: "Klinsmann went with a center mid pairing of Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley against Azerbaijan although I still think Bradley, who has the keys to the US offense with his distribution abilities, plays his best with Kyle Beckerman of Real Salt Lake playing in behind him. In Klinsmann's system, where the outside backs are encouraged to get forward and join the attack, especially a player that is accustomed to doing so like Fabian Johnson, the US need a strong defensive midfielder to cover for the attacking runs of any player from the back four, which Beckerman does a better job of than Jones. As Jones showed against Azerbaijan, he is pretty good with the ball at his feet in playing to the outside backs and he showed his strength in winning most of the 50-50 balls against the Azeris, but he is too wild and reckless to be that steady holding midfielder for the US team. Jones does have a pretty good strike on him, but it is a blessing and a curse because he can get in on the goals, but it forces Bradley to sometimes play too deep because Jones likes to go forward and join the attack. Since the US need Bradley as high up the field as possible so that he can be the creative engine of the team due to his vision being superb by any standards, Beckerman is more suited to play in the hole behind the midfield and in front of the defense and I am not just saying that because he has great deadlocks (ok, only partly). Much like how Shane Battier knows his role on the Heat to flop around a little bit on defense and stretch the floor for any threes, how Draymond Green will attempt to guard anybody on the floor from the 1 to the 5 to help the Warriors, or how if you get near Erik Karlsson or Jason Spezza Senators enforcer Chris Neil will let you know about it, Beckerman understands his role on the USMNT really well, much better than Jones, and would allow Bradley the freedom he needs in midfield to set up wingers Graham Zusi and Alejandro Bedoya, who I thought had way too many careless giveaways with nobody on him against Azerbaijan, and Dempsey and Altidore up front. Bradley did not take enough risks against Azerbaijan because he needs to be further up the field to be at his best."

Everything I said about Kyle Beckerman has held true in the first two World Cup games against Ghana and Portugal. It should not come as a surprise for anybody that has watched Beckerman play with Real Salt Lake, but the holding midfielder does his job for the team as well as you could ask for as a coach and he does not stray from it at all. In every sport, every team needs a guy that realizes he isn't a star player, but does all of the dirty work for a team, especially with all the 50-50 balls in the middle of the field in soccer and that is what Kyle Beckerman provides for the US team and why he has made the past five All-Star games in the MLS despite not scoring more than 3 goals in a season from 2009 to 2011. With the ball at his feet, Beckerman is very safe with it and always makes the easy pass forward or backwards, as 56 of his 61 passes against Portugal were short passes. Since Beckerman is so careful with the ball and always plays quickly and the way he is facing to not complicate things, he had a 90.2 passing accuracy for the game against Portugal, which is something you need from a player that is not in a creative role but you so rarely get because guys try to play the Hollywood ball over the top so often.

Without the ball, Beckerman shines on the field because he sits in front of the defense and reads the play so well from his deep-lying midfield role and is able to cover for his fellow midfielders and cut out a lot of passes that are trying to be thread through, as he had 4 interceptions against the Portuguese attack, the second most on the team behind Matt Besler. Beckerman rarely commits himself to far forward, so the US is rarely caught out in the back and their center defenders do not have to step to a player in front of them too often because Beckerman has that space under wraps. Also, since Beckerman covers so well, it allowed the very dangerous Fabian Johnson to get forward all game long against Portugal, something that was instrumental to the US attack in that game and was a direct result of Beckerman's discipline on the field to stay back and prevent Ronaldo and Nani from having yards of space in the middle of the field to attack.

Meanwhile, everything I said about Jermaine Jones has turned out to be completely wrong, especially after his wonder performance against Portugal to help the US get a point out of their fixture from Manaus although they should have had all three. I would honestly argue that through the United States' first two matches in the group stage, their best player for the tournament has been Jermaine Jones in the midfield and he has more than made up for the lack of quality that we have seen from Michael Bradley against Ghana and in front of goal and in the 94th minute of the game versus Portugal. Jones had one of the early goals of this World Cup in the 64th minute to help the US finally break through the Portuguese defense and get the equalizing goal to tie the score at one early on in the second half of the match. After a Graham Zusi corner kick was headed away off the front post by Eder, Nani being Nani had a terrible header (what a surprise) right out to Jermaine Jones, who was standing just above and to the left of the arc behind the box. The Besiktas midfielder collected himself, took a touch to the right, and curled the ball around Portuguese defender Ricardo Costa and into the far post past a helpless Beto for an absolutely filthy goal for the US. Along with Tim Cahill's volley goal for Australia against Netherlands, Messi's free-kick yesterday versus Nigeria, and possibly Robin van Persie's flying header goal against Spain and Iker Casillas, Jones's goal could be thought of as the best of the tournament, especially considering the magnitude of the goal and just how difficult it was to hit it around a player and bring it back in for a score.

Obviously, any time you score a goal like Jones, it makes any performance you put forth on the field a good one, but Jones played the best game for the US against Portugal even without that amazing goal. Jones was everywhere in the midfield and was constantly making challenges in the middle to win the ball back from Moutinho, Veloso, and Meireles, which was more so the aggressive and determined Jones than the wild and reckless Jones that I refereed to before the tournament began. Aside from his combative nature in winning 50-50 balls, which has always been there, Jones has been the best US player at linking play between the midfield and players running in behind the defense, which most people, including myself, thought would be the role of Michael Bradley. However, Jones has looked far better at connecting with his teammates when they are making runs forward and has been the main US option in taking the ball and making something happen from the midfield, as only Zusi created more chances than him for the US against Portugal.

Jermaine Jones's Goal Against Portugal

Finally, Clint Dempsey had a very good game up top for the United States against Portugal in the lone striker role, showing that the US can still manage to make some things happen going forward without the holdup play of Jozy Altidore, something they were unable to do against Ghana for almost the entirety of the game. In the 81st minute, Dempsey scored his 4th goal for the Red, White, and Blue in the World Cup, joining Bert Patenaude and Landon Donovan as the only US players to have more than 3 goals in the world's biggest international tournament (Patenaude had 4 goals in the inaugural tournament in 1930 and Donovan had two goals in the 2002 World Cup versus Poland in the group stage and Mexico in the round of 16 and three in 2010 with two in the group stage versus Slovenia and Algeria respectively and also the United States' lone goal against Ghana in the knockout stage). The finish by Dempsey was a very nice one because as the ball went out to Zusi, who was wide open to the left of the goal after Bradley's left foot shot from DeAndre Yedlin's cross was blocked, Clint waited patiently right on the six so that he could remain on-side with Bruno Alves on the ground and then went forward to finish the goal off his chest when the ball eventually came in from Zusi (that ball into Yedlin to set up the whole play was done by Jermaine Jones once again, which further emphasizes how important of a role he played when they US tied Portugal). Dempsey is typically at his best when he is playing off of a striker as a second forward player, as shown during his best year at Fulham in 2011-2012 when Matin Jol would play Andy Johnson, Bobby Zamora, or Pavel Pogrebnyak at the striker role and Dempsey in behind one of them, which helped Clint score 17 goals in 37 league games and 23 goals in all competitions for "The Cottagers" that season, the most for the team in the top division since Allan Clarke scored 24 league goals for them all the bay back in 1967-1968.

However, Dempsey looked very very comfortable playing up top on his own with Alejandro Bedoya and Graham Zusi on the wings and Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones attempting to combine with the players going forward. The concern with Dempsey as the lone striker was that he would only check to feet when Bradley or Jones had the ball and that the Portuguese back four of Joao Pereira, Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves, and Andre Almeida would not be stretched enough because Dempsey would not provide enough depth down the field for the US. But Dempsey was constantly making runs off the shoulders of Bruno Alves and Ricardo Costa and in behind the Portuguese defense, something that gave the US so much more space in the midfield to work with because Alves and Costa were not pressing as high as they would have if Dempsey did not make those runs over the top. Nonetheless, it was a team effort to get forward that really helped the US because Fabian Johnson was consistently shooting forward and Graham Zusi was running in behind from his left midfield spot as well to open up the field for the Yanks and give them the necessary space to operate. As the game went on, Dempsey began to get on the ball more and more after he had loosened up the Portuguese defense, which the US needs because he is such a dynamic player when he dribbles at people in the attacking third and is taking shots from distance to threaten the goalkeeper.

 

Clint Dempsey's Goal For The US Plus Some Random Reaction To It

There is no way around it, the United States missed a golden opportunity to advance to the round of 16 with the late goal by Varela from Portugal and they now have a very tough game against Germany ahead of them in their final group match from Recife. Since 1954, Deutschland's results in the World Cup are 1st in 1954, 4th in 1958, 7th in 1962, 2nd in 1966, 3rd in 1970, 1st in 1974, 6th in 1978, 2nd in 1982, 3nd in 1986, 1st in 1990, 5th in 1994, 7th in 1998, 2nd in 2002, 3rd in 2006, and 3rd in 2010, so it is safe to say that the Germans are a soccer powerhouse like few others. They have tons of quality in their midfield with Lahm, Kroos, Khedira, and Schweinsteiger, who looked very lively when he came on against Ghana and I think he will start in place of Khedira against the US, along with their dynamic front three system of Ozil, Muller, and Gotze although we could see Podolski, or Schurrle up there instead of Gotze for the game against the USA. Germany plays with four true central defenders in the back with Boateng on the right, Mertesacker and Hummels in the middle, and Howedes on the left, but Joachim Loew often instructs his fullbacks to stay back and not get forward, which should help the US because Germany often play very narrowly and in Klinsmann's 4-5-1, the midfield is very compact when the other team has the ball, which Germany will see a lot of with their talented stars. After showing their toughness and strength against Ghana and then turning in a really high level performance against a strong Portuguese side, there is no reason that the United States should not get a result from their match with Germany and move on to the final 16 to try to make some serious noise in Brazil.